


Punking Doflamingo

by Kereea



Series: ASL In Red [14]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Fluff, Humor, Multi, Punk Hazard Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6164317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kereea/pseuds/Kereea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Straw Hats and Hearts get an idea from Law’s dad: screw over the World Government and Doflamingo while also securing their comeback by taking over Punk Hazard. Luffy’s excited: he’s never gotten to take over anywhere before!</p><p>Kuzan and Sakazuki may have destroyed the climate, but will there even be an island left once this crew is through with it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Plan

“Let’s do it!” Luffy cheered.

“…You know I really thought we’d have to convince you,” Kuzan said as Rocinante beamed.

“Then you haven’t been paying attention,” Law groaned.

“Works for me!” his father declared. “Now, this would have to be done very quickly, of course, but if you take out Caesar, it puts Kaido on my brother’s tail.”

“I’ve got one better,” Law said, smirking.

“Oh do you?” Rocinante asked.

“Yes. We _ransom_ Caesar,” Law said. “We’ll give him back, sparing Doflamingo Kaido’s wrath…if he steps down from being a Warlord.”

“I missed this kid,” Kuzan laughed. “Blackmailing the blackmailer. Of course.”

“What?” Luffy asked.

“Since when does Doflamingo use blackmail?” Law agreed.

“We think it’s how he got his Warlord position in the first place,” Rocinante said. “Blackmailing the Celestial Dragons.”

“Oh man, then this is just too ironic,” Law said, gears in his head starting to turn.

“Oh boy, creepy smile,” Luffy said, grabbing Law’s shoulder so he could lean up and poke his cheek.

“I’m guessing that’s his scheming face,” Kuzan chuckled.

“Yep,” Luffy said. “Traffy, come _on_ , it’s no fair if you don’t tell us what you’re planning!”

“It’s really going to depend on where Caesar is, of course…” Law said.

“Punk Hazard, last we checked,” Kuzan said.

“Where you and Akainu had the deathmatch?” Law asked. “…Interesting.”

“Stop plotting in your head! Plot out loud!” Luffy demanded, socking him in the shoulder.

“Well, such an island has some immediate ties to the Marines, given it’s where their current leader got is job,” Law explained. “If we _took_ it…”

“Huh. Never taken over an island before,” Luffy admitted. “…Is it a _cool_ island?”

“The battle warped the climate into one half being a frozen wasteland and the other a volcanic hellscape,” Rocinante said.

“Traffy, we’re _totally_ taking that island!” Luffy said, eyes sparkling as he grabbed Law by the front of his hoodie with both hands and leaned in close.

“I thought so,” Law said, smirking as he wrapped an arm around Luffy’s shoulders. “Who _is_ Caesar Clown, anyway? I don’t remember him.”

“There’s been some interesting changes in the gang, a few newbies,” Rocinante said. “I made you a folder.”

“You get the folder, I get to take over the island,” Luffy told Law.

“That’s not how that works and you know it,” Law said, poking him in the chest. “We both get the folder and both get to take over the island.”

Law glared at Kuzan when he chuckled. They were not cute, damn it! “So were you planning on coming with us or something else?”

“Something else, we’d meet you later and go to Dressrosa. Kuzan can act as insurance for the deal,” Rocinante said. “But…I’d like to talk to you for a bit before we split up. Catch up, you know?”

“Yeah,” Law said. “Luffy-ya, my dad and I need to talk. Get lost.”

“Kay. Hey, ice guy, let’s go fight!” Luffy said.

Kuzan grinned, “Why not? You’ve got to have improved by now, maybe it’ll be interesting.”

Law chuckled as Luffy raced off, Kuzan following much more calmly behind him. “So…that’s my boyfriend.”

“He seems nice enough,” Rocinante said. “Kind of pushy.”

“You have _no_ idea,” Law said.

“That’s odd, you hate being pushed around,” his father said.

“He doesn’t push me around…okay, not too much anyway,” Law said. “And he may be dense but he’s not stupid enough to try _ordering_ me to do shit.”

“Language.”

“Pirate,” Law retorted.

His father rubbed his arm, “You know, this whole ‘seeing your kid for the first time in nine years’ thing is really awkward.”

“Agreed,” Law said.

“…Are you at least practicing safe sex? Because, you know, you’re a doctor so you should know to-”

“Cora-san!” Law squawked. He was surprised his voice could even get that high. And what the hell was with that as an opening topic? “And…no, because we’re not having sex and oh for crying out loud I am _not_ having this conversation with you!”

“Oh, well…glad you’re taking your time,” Rocinante said.

“No, we’re never having sex,” Law said, trying not to die of embarrassment. “End of story. _Please change the subject_.”

“Oh!” Rocinante said. “…Well, whatever works for you. You do seem happier though, so, is it just the relationship or something else?”

“A lot of it is Luffy. He’s like…concentrated happy. It’s weird as hell,” Law said. “But…there’s also Bepo and my crew and Chopper-”

“Who?” Rocinante asked.

“Tiny reindeer. The navy thinks he’s a pet but he’s a Zoan user and the Straw Hats’ doctor,” Law said. “We’re…friends? Yeah, friends. Nico Robin’s fun too, we have a lot in common.”

“Oh?” Rocinante asked. “Well, glad you picked up social skills. I know you didn’t really get a chance to, you know, before.”

“Yeah, an isolated base in North Blue was not good for that,” Law agreed.

He frowned as his father looked upset, “Not that you weren’t doing the best you could. Let’s face it, the situation was shit.”

Rocinante smiled ruefully, “It was. I wish it could have ended differently.”

“Don’t know if it could have,” Law admitted quietly. “I wouldn’t have been a Marine and they wouldn’t have let me out otherwise.”

His father sighed and Law knew why. Rocinante was a just man at heart, the fact that where Law was now had always been the only end option couldn’t sit well with him.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “You did the best you could, Dad.”

“I blame myself,” Rocinante said, shaking his head. “I…it was like the hospitals all over again, I put my faith in people doing the right thing…I’ve got a bad habit of doing it too often.”

“No!” Law said. “It’s a good thing…I mean…what if you’d never given me a chance?”

“Law, that never would have happened,” his father said. The sincere smile morphed into a teasing grin. “You were too cute not to help from the start!”

“I said I wanted to destroy as much as I could and then stabbed you because you threw me out the window,” Law said. “Those were our first two interactions.”

“And you were somehow tragically adorable while doing both,” Rocinante said.

“You’re as bad as Luffy and his brother and their weird Emperor dad,” Law complained.

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” Rocinante laughed.

Law smiled. He’d missed his father.

“I am proud of you, you know,” Rocinante said. “I just wanted you to be happy, and you are.”

Law shrugged, “I’m…getting better at it.”

Rocinate smiled and pulled him into a hug, only for them to jump apart at a loud crash.

“That sounded like a lot of ice breaking,” Law said.

“I…guess they’re having fun,” Rocinante said.

“ZORO, NO, WE’RE _FRIENDLY_ FIGHTING!”

“Oh shit,” Law said, turning so he could run over. “Roronoa-ya, you fucking idiot, butt out!”

.o.o.o.

After Zoro was rescued from the highly amused Kuzan—who had been trying to see if the guy really _would_ cut his legs off if his feet were frozen to the ground, the asshole—Rocinante had handed over a folder containing all the information he had on Doflamingo’s crew and they’d split up, promising to meet once Punk Hazard had been stolen.

The crew was excited. None of them had taken over an island before—though Bentham had contributed to a takeover of a nation—and so everyone couldn’t wait to see how this went down.

“Do we even know who’s there?” Jinbe asked.

“Yeah, the Caesar guy we’re kidnapping,” Luffy said.

“If he’s running a large lab he’s bound to have help,” Law said. “Security, at least, given his importance to Doflamingo.”

“Yes, but do we know who they are?” Jinbe asked. “It’s hard to fight without knowing who you’ll face.”

“Eh, we’re good at it, though,” Ace said. “We know how to improvise.”

“In fact we have to almost exclusively improvise because some people don’t know what plans are,” Sabo teased, ruffling Luffy’s hair.

“We _have_ a plan!” Luffy complained. “We go in, we kidnap Caesar, we take over! See, I can plan!”

“Law, you’re a schemer, please explain how that is not a plan to Luffy,” Nami sighed.

“Luffy-ya, that is not a plan because a plan involves knowing how to do the things you want to do,” Law explained. “And ‘we’re going to beat them up’ is not sufficient.”

“…Just cause you knew I’d say that doesn’t mean you’re right,” Luffy pouted. “Cause that’s how we’re going to do it!”

“Hey guys!” Usopp called from the crow’s nest. “If you use the telescope right, you can see Punk Hazard now!”

Luffy instantly left the meeting.

“Can we fit an actual plan into Luffy’s framework?” Koala asked. “Please?”

“The actual plan is to split up, gather info, regroup, and then kidnap Caesar and take over, possibly while wrecking the facilities either as cover or because we don’t want them,” Law said. “Beating people up whenever necessary, of course.”

“Okay, that sounds doable,” Nami said. “I’ll tell the others-”

“OH MY GOSH GUYS THIS ISLAND IS SO COOL LOOKING! WE’VE GOT TO HAVE IT!”

“…I’ve got to see this!” Ace said, running for the crow’s nest with Zoro, who suddenly turned left and had to be retrieved to finish the trip.

“Meeting adjourned then,” Nami sighed.

.o.o.o.

Punk Hazard was decidedly awesome, Ace felt. Of course, that might have been because he was the only one who was remotely comfortable right now.

“It’s so fucking hot…” Sabo groaned.

Ace smirked.

“I saw that!” Sabo said. “Wipe that grin off your face, hotshot, this sucks for the rest of us!”

“Hey, you could have gone on team ‘freeze our asses off’ instead,” Ace said.

“Yeah, no,” Sabo muttered. “I’m sure Luffy is driving all of them plenty nuts for all of us.”

“It’s not so bad…” Nami said, using the clima tact to shoot a burst of cold air at herself in lieu of a fan.

“Hey guys!” Zoro yelled. “Cook found something!”

The group jogged over to where Sanji and Zoro were standing in front of a massive metal door. Zoro spat at it, his saliva sizzling on contact with the metal.

“That probably works better than a lock,” Sanji mused.

“Well that looks interesting, all right,” Koala said as Ace and Jean Bart—the latter protected from the heat with gloves—hauled open the huge door. “Wonder where it goes?”

“Going by its direction and where we start, it aims towards the island’s center,” Nami said. “Shachi, phone the others.”

“Right,” Shahi said, pulling out the portable transponder snail. “Uh, don’t think the little guy like the heat…”

Nami quickly used Rain Tempo to make some water for the poor snail, “You okay, little guy?”

If the snail had a chest it would have puffed it out in determination as Shachi made the call, “Hey guys, we found a way inside…something or other. Going to check it out.”

“We’re still cold,” Bepo replied. “Well, I’m not but you get the idea.”

“How are you doing?” Sabo asked.

“Captain Luffy ran off because he saw something. Captain Law and Jinbe chased him. The rest of us are chasing them,” Bepo replied.

“…We really need to resolve that whole two captains thing,” Jean Bart mused as Brook sent his soul ahead to scout.

.o.o.o.

It took Luffy approximately twenty minutes to get bored and deviate from the plan.

Well within Law’s expected window of fifteen minutes to half an hour, at least. “Get back here, Luffy-ya!”

“At least it gets the blood moving,” Jinbe chuckled ruefully as they followed Luffy up the mountain.

“Oh yeah, I feel much warmer now, how nice,” Law said dryly. “We should—what the fuck!”

“What are those?” Jinbe wondered, dodging a blow from the hairy giant with ease.

“ _Awesome_ is what they are!” Luffy laughed, ducking under one’s rifle. “They’re Yeti, guys! How cool is that?”

“You picked a fight with _Yeti_?” Law complained, pulling out Kikoku and quickly generating a “Room.”

“Try to leave them alive, they’re too organized to be mere beasts. They may have information,” Jinbe said.

“What makes you think that?” Law asked, taking one Yeti’s leg. Huh. Little harder to slice through than a human…he’d keep that in mind.

“They’re wearing pants,” Jinbe said. “Animals don’t normally concern themselves with that.”

“Or with using rifles!” Luffy laughed. “Or having nice hats!”

“Okay, the hats are kind of nice,” Law admitted, only to yelp as one of the Yeti was surprising fast and grabbed him. It was so large that Law easily fit into its fist, his arms pinned to his sides. Law squirmed. It was really hard to use his techniques without his hands…he managed to twist one hand around so the palm was against the Yeti’s fur-free finger. “Countershock!”

The Yeti yelled in pain—and that was definitely the howl of a person, not a beast—and flung Law away…right at a cliff. Law was about to save himself with Shambles when a pair of giant arms sprouted from the cliff and caught him.

“Having fun?” Robin called as Bepo, Bentham, and Franky charged the Yeti.

“Close enough, anyway,” Law said.

“Who are these guys?” Chopper asked.

“Creepy Yeti. We’re assuming they work for Caesar,” Law said as Bepo and Bentham helped Luffy slingshot himself into one Yeti’s face.

“Well then, let’s take them down and find out,” Robin said.

.o.o.o.

“Find out anything?” Rocinante asked.

“Yeah, none of these places sell beer,” Kuzan complained, smirking at Rocinante’s frown. “Also what happened right before your brother took over sounds a lot like the previous king got nabbed with the Parasite technique.”

“Thank you,” Rocinante said. “At least we have the general layout of the island and updates to my brothers’ crew by now. We should probably leave and see if Law and his friends finished on Punk Hazard.”

“Good idea,” Kuzan said. “Not that _I_ couldn’t take him, but hanging around your brother’s kingdom cannot be a good idea for you.”

“Got that right. All praises to hair dye,” Rocinante said, tugging his currently red locks.

“You look like Eustace Kid’s taller, less metal brother,” Kuzan said.

“Was that a compliment or not?” Rocinante asked.

Kuzan shrugged. Rocinante kicked him as they started walking towards the docks.

.o.o.o.

“This place is huge,” Sabo marveled.

“And thankfully climate controlled,” Koala added.

“How recent was the duel again?” Sabo asked.

“A little under seven months…you’re right, this is impressive for such a short timeframe,” Sanji said.

“This Caesar guy must have a lot of help…” Ace said.

“Or…” Nami mused, “Or maybe it was already here and they just repaired whatever the battle damaged…”

“Makes sense,” Zoro said.

“We’ve definitely gone underground at this point,” Sanji mused. “Surprised the magma isn’t causing more problems for us…”

“You’d be surprised what good construction can do,” Jean Bart said.

“All right,” Sabo sighed. “This looks safe enough. We’ll camp here for the night.”

.o.o.o.

“Yeah, we found a spot too,” Luffy said into the snail. “The Yeti pointed us at a door after we kicked their butts. And Caesar’s apparently this mad scientist guy, just like Law’s dad said!”

“How do you know the Yeti won’t warn him?” Ace asked.

“Traffy chopped them up and put them back together all weird while Jinbe and me made a pit to stick them in,” Luffy said. “It’ll take them a while.”

“And I made sure they didn’t have their own snails!” Franky added. “So we’re _super_ sure they won’t warn anyone!”

“Caesar could be a major threat, given what we know of his powers,” Law said. “But not in a fight. His gas powers will give him extreme power over the environment. Ace-ya is the most as risk since Caesar can simply remove the oxygen from the air and snuff his fire completely.”

“…And make it so none of us can breathe,” Sabo pointed out.

“That too,” Law admitted. “There’s another logia here, but she’s snow. Ace-ya could handle that easily, right Fire Fist?”

“Oh yeah. Snow melts even easier than ice,” Ace said.

“Great!” Luffy said. “Ooh, ooh, and if I don’t see it, remember it really, really well to tell me all about it!”

“Will do,” Ace promised solemnly. Law could have sworn he heard someone facepalm n the background.

“Goodnight. Be careful!” Luffy said, hanging up and giving the snail back to Robin. “Hey, Traffy?”

“What?” Law asked, already settling against Bepo.

“Your dad had a point—are we both the captain?”

Law scowled, “You want to do this now?”

“Well…I’m the one who’s going to be Pirate King,” Luffy said.

Law frowned at him, “Luffy-ya, if you outrank me, you might be dumb enough to give me orders. And if you give me orders, we are going to have a problem.”

“Nah, Traffy’s too stubborn for orders. I know that. I’ve got to ask nicely,” Luffy said.

Law chuckled. Yeah, ask nicely and wait for Law to cave because he was a sap or ask nicely and then go ahead anyway. “Very nicely, Straw Hat.”

“So…I’m in charge?” Luffy asked slyly.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yes! I’m in charge, haha!” Luffy crowed.

“What did I just say?” Law demanded.

“That you’d think, which means you’ll say yes but not now! It’s okay, Traffy, I’m not going to boss your around, remember?” Luffy asked.

Law groaned and leaned back against Bepo. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered.

Luffy laughed and threw his arms around Law, curling against him.

Law smiled softly, wrapping an arm around Luffy in return. Oh, right—that was why.

.o.o.o.

Rocinante groaned, “This is ridiculous.”

“Could buy a bike, leave at night,” Kuzan suggested. “Ice bridge.”

Rocinante frowned, “Might be the best choice, if there’s no ship out we can get on for a couple days. But it _will_ give us away, and he’ll be ready for us.”

“If we haven’t been given away already. Ships in a busy port like this not taking anyone…something’s up,” Kuzan said.

“I vote no silence bubble tonight,” Rocinante said.

“Not that we’ve used one since getting here,” Kuzan said. “Going to put a patch of ice rght inside the hotel room, then. Trip up an intruder.” He smirked. “Don’t slip.”

“Ha-ha, very funny," Rocinante said as they headed back into the heart of the island.


	2. Things Get Complicated

 “…I feel really mean right now,” Ace admitted.

 “Is it working?” Sabo asked.

 “Yes,” Ace admitted.

 “Are we having to fight the hazmat guys?” Koala asked.

 “No,” Ace admitted.

 “So is my plan glorious and you’re just whining?” Nami asked.

 “Oh come on!” Ace groaned. “Seriously, it’s _mean_!”

 The group entering from the lava side of the island had run into some workers of Caesar Clown’s. Many used odd balloon devices to get around, having no use of their legs. So Nami had ordered them to let them pass or Ace would superheat the balloons and pop them.

 “We’re pirates, man,” Jean Bart sighed. “Besides, keep your guard up. They’re bound to have alerted someone by now…”

 “Honestly even given Nami’s threat they’re taking this very well…” Koala mused. “…This is a trap, isn’t it?”

 “You know, now that you mention it…totally a trap,” Sabo said.

 “Trap,” Zoro agreed, nodding.

 “We’re probably walking towards something very dangerous,” Sanji said.

 “That they’re sure will utterly destroy us all,” Penguin said.

 “Certain doom awaits,” Brook chuckled.

 Ace beamed, “Luffy’s going to be so jealous he missed this!”

.o.o.o.

 “Bet the others are doing something really cool right now…” Luffy sighed.

 “We are doing something cool…it’s just the two medics are the only ones who think it is,” Jinbe said as Law and Chopper continued rifling through Caesar’s research notes.

 “Fuck you, this guy’s trying to create artificial Devil Fruits so this is fucking _amazing_ ,” Law said, eyes glued to the notes.

 “It seems our dear Traffy swears more when studying,” Robin chuckled, flipping through a few journals herself.

 Chopper slammed his hooves down on a table, “This…this isn’t cool at all!”

 “Well okay, yeah, he’s kidnapped kids in order to experiment on them, I know-” Law admitted.

 “What are you reading? I’m talking about Smiley!” Chopper cried.

 “…About what now?” Law asked, taking the papers Chopper was waving around. “Oh…it seems Caesar has a ‘pet’ we were unaware of. Some sort of living chemical…lizard…thing.”

 “It’s a _monster_!” Chopper said, waving his arms. “Created by a giant weapon explosion! And then Caesar fed it a Devil Fruit!”

 “Why anyone would give a monster a _Zoan_ of all things…” Law mused.

 “The Sala-Sala Fruit, Axolotl Model,” Robin said, taking the file form Law. “This is interesting…”

 “Do we get to fight it?” Luffy asked eagerly.

 “…No. It is housed in the Burning Lands, so the other side of the island,” Law said.

 “I knew it! Ace and Sabo are going to have all the fun!” Luffy groaned. Bentham patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. “We’re probably only get to do something okay, like save those kidnapped kids!”

 “Yeah, guess we need to do that if we’re taking over,” Franky said. “I mean, what would we do with a bunch of kids?”

 “Well what do we do with them after saving them?” Jinbe asked. “We can’t exactly take them to Dressrosa…”

 “We find a Marine ship, kick the leader’s butt so they can’t arrest us, and give them the kids,” Luffy said. “They’re supposed to know what to do with that kind of situation, right? I mean, Nami and Traffy’s parents did.”

 “…He does have a point,” Usopp admitted. “Marines are probably the best people to get the kids somewhere safe. Even to just an orphanage.”

 Law huffed, “Fine. We’ll make the Marines handle it.”

 “It’s okay, the rest of us can handle it, Captain,” Bepo said. “We won’t make you play nice with Marines.”

 “I’ll call the others,” Jinbe said, pulling out the transponder snail. “We should warn them.”

.o.o.o.

 “Holy shit what is this thing!” Sabo yelled as they ran.

 “I’ll admit, smart of them to let us walk right into it!” Koala said.

 “Yeah, til it ate some of them!” Ace snapped. “What the hell even is it?”

 “Guys, the others are on the snail!” Penguin said. “They say it’s a thing called Smiley, it’s living chemicals…and Luffy is jealous we get to fight it…okay…”

 “All right, living chemicals, we can work with that,” Nami said. “Ace, stop shooting at it; Sanji, same with kicking! We don’t know how what it’s made of reacts to fire. Guys, tell us what you’ve got!”

 Shachi relayed the message. “Okay, Captain says it looks like it shouldn’t do well with water.”

 “Well, looks like you’re up Nami!” Koala said.

 “Jean Bart, give me a ride!” Nami said, jumping. Jean Bart caught her and let her ride on his shoulders. “All right then! Shower Tempo!”

 The heat created by Smiley’s off-gassing chemical reactions caused the majority of the water to evaporate on the way to the creature. It didn’t seem to like being hit with water, and roared as it began to advance more quickly.

 “Oh come _on_!” Ace groaned.

 “New plan—Zoro, Brook, cut through some of the supports to collapse the roof on it!” Sabo yelled. “Nami, keep splashing it anyway!”

 “Got it!” Zoro said as he and Brook got to work.

 “With how big that thing is, it’s already collapsing some of the supports—we’re going to end up outside, right back where we started!” Koala said.

 “Okay, it’s poison, it’s chasing us, and it doesn’t seem all that bright, what else do we have?” Ace asked.

 “Um…it might not react well to being set directly on fire, like, an explosion?” Shachi offered. “Captain and Chopper and Franky are trying to work out just what it is, so they’re not sure…”

 Zoro and Brooks’ cuts worked, the ceiling coming crashing down and blocking Smiley’s advance.

 “How long until it gets through that?” Sanji wondered.

 “Not long enough. So let’s find a good place for me to blow that sucker up,” Ace said.

.o.o.o.

 “And they get to cause a huge explosion?” Luffy whined. “Damn it, should have picked the hot side!”

 “Your rubber reacts poorly to heat, so no,” Chopper said dryly.

 “Come on, Luffy-ya, you’ll feel better after we punch Caesar in the face,” Law chuckled.

 “How is _he_ going to be cooler than a giant chemical salamander Ace is going to get to blow up?” Luffy whined.

 “…He’s a person, so you’ll see the hilarious panic on his face before you punch him,” Franky said.

 “It could be funny,” Robin agreed. “Now, let’s find either those children or Caesar.”

.o.o.o.

 “Be right back,” Rocinante said, heading for the restroom as Kuzan checked them out of the hotel.

 He yawned as he went in. Neither of them had slept well, given the circumstances. He hoped he was awake enough to stay on a bike…

 As he went to shut the door to the stall, someone caught it.

 Rocinante’s eyes widened as Vergo wrenched the door off entirely. “How long have you been _waiting_ in here-?”

 His world went black as Vergo punched him in the face.

.o.o.o.

 “Okay, found the kids, still no evil scientist,” Luffy huffed as Robin and Franky continued calming the children down. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked off. “Worst. Island takeover. Ever.”

 “Maybe we can have more fun on Dressrosa,” Law offered, following him. “I know you were practically _salivating_ over the idea of fighting some of the people Cora-san told us about.”

 “It had better be! We need to make up for this date!” Luffy said.

 “It’s not a date, we’re got half the crew with us,” Law said.

 “It’s a group date.”

 “ _Bullshit_ ,” Law said. “…Erm…Luffy-ya?”

 “Yeah?” Luffy asked.

 “You didn’t happen to pay attention when we were walking, did you?” Law asked.

 “…We’re _lost_?” Luffy groaned. “Worst. Date. Ever.”

 “Straw Hat! Surgeon of Death!”

 Luffy beamed as Smoker and Tashigi rounded a corner up ahead. “I take it back! Fighting Marines is _perfect_!”

 “Luffy, remember our plan for the Marines?” Law hissed. “As well as the fact that we need to fight _Caesar_ , not _them_?”

 “You’re under arrest!” Smoker said.

 “Wait, how’d you find us? Are you working with the creepy clown guy?” Luffy asked.

 “Actually we just picked the most dangerous island we could think of since you usually show up in places like that,” Tashigi said.

 “That is legitimately brilliant. You have my congratulations. I’m sure it’ll be a comfort once you no longer have your limbs,” Law offered. “Of course, you could always listen to our proposition and not fight us at all.”

 “Nice try,” Smoker said. “But our men should be apprehending your comrades shortly.”

 “Not the ones getting chased by the giant chemical salamander,” Luffy said, picking at his nose.

 Smoker’s eye twitched.

 “Sure you wouldn’t rather listen to us?” Law asked.

 “We’re sure,” Tashigi said, drawing her sword.

 “Oh come on!” Luffy complained, rolling his eyes. “We haven’t even hurt anyone here!”

 “…Except the Yeti,” Law admitted with a smug smirk.

 “Well, _they_ started it,” Luffy said.

 “You’re _still_ under arrest,” Smoker said.

 “…No,” Luffy said simply.

 “What?” Tashigi asked.

 “No. We’re not going to be arrested,” Luffy said. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to win, and you’re not going to arrest us.”

 “Sorry about that, future Pirate King has spoken,” Law said, unsheathing Kikoku. “Room!”

.o.o.o.

 “…I’ll admit, this is just petty,” Rocinante complained as he tested the seastone cuffs. “First off, this is Vergo’s chair. How _rude_ is this to him?”

 “Stop trying to be funny,” Doffy said. Rocinante could practically see his eyes roll behind the sunglasses. “You’re not.”

 “I’m not trying to be funny, I’m noting that _you are petty_ ,” Rocinante said. “Where’s Kuzan?”

 “We set up a bit of a wild goose chase for him, made him think you’re on Green Bit,” Doffy said. “Just enough to keep him busy until it won’t matter.”

 “Won’t matter?” Rocinante asked.

 “Little brother, not only have you been a thorn in my side, you made _other_ people thorns in my side,” Doffy said. “Which is annoying. Because even if I could bring myself to kill you-”

 Rocinante laughed. Doffy could kill him any time he wanted and they both knew it. Sentimentality wasn’t his forte.

 “Shut up!” Doffy snapped, punching him. “I. Am. **Speaking**.”

 “I’m your little brother, what do I care? Siblings don’t care about that sort of thing,” Rocinante said.

 Doffy glared at him, “You don’t get it, do you? I’m not going to kill you. That’s too easy and it doesn’t solve my problems.”

 “Nothing’s going to solve your problems,” Rocinante pointed out. If anything happened to him, well…Doffy frankly couldn’t take Kuzan unless he had an ironclad plan—still probably losing a lot of his fighting forces in the process—and even _then_ would have Law to contend with later.

 “Of course there is…because this was all your idea,” Doffy said.

 “So?” Rocinante asked.

 “So…what happens when the people you told your idea to no longer remember you ever existed?” Doffy asked as Sugar came in.

 Shit.

 Doffy’s smile stretched grotesquely. “Aokiji will stop looking because he’s not looking for anyone. He won’t remember you at all.”

 Rocinante swallowed.

 “And Law…I wonder what it will do to him…” Doffy mused. “Suddenly his hero, his ‘father’… _never existed_.”

 Rocinante’s eyes widened. The effect that could have on his son…

 “Should be interesting! Almost like an experiment…” Doffy mused.

 “You won’t know though,” Rocinante said. “You won’t remember me either.”

 “Aw, silly little bother,” Doffy said ruffling his hair. Rocinante tried to bite him, earning another punch for his trouble. “Knock that off! Anyway, Sugar’s worked for me for years! Don’t you think I have ways to refresh my memory when I _really_ don’t like someone?”

 “What?” Rocinante asked.

 “I take notes!” Doffy said. “And whenever Sugar turns someone into a toy with me in the room, I always check myself for notes so I know just what to do with that toy! I mean, there used to be all these toys who I had this nagging feeling I was supposed to hate or torture but I never knew who they were. So I started notetaking and it’s been so much better ever since!”

 Rocinante shuddered. Of course.

 “I’m going to make you wish you’d never crossed me,” Doffy said. “Sugar, if you please?”

.o.o.o.

  On Green Bit, Kuzan paused, suddenly unsure of why he was even there, and why he’d felt angry.

.o.o.o.

 As Law ducked a swing from the Marine he suddenly felt _enraged_. Why was he playing _nice_ with _them_? With thugs of the _government_? “Room! Mes!”

 She gasped as his hand sunk into her chest—he ignored that it had left him open and she’d stabbed his shoulder in return, what did a little more pain matter as long as he got what he wanted—and he kept what he knew was a painfully tight grip on her heart as he ripped it out.

 She fell to the floor, gasping. Yep, just the right grip for a Marine’s heart.

 “Tashigi!” the Vice Admiral yelled, moving to break from Luffy and managing because Luffy seemed to have dropped the ball for some reason.

 Fine. Ace had given him plenty of practice against logia anyway. He dropped Kikoku so he had a free hand, the other keeping the female Marine on the floor with her heart. “Shambles!”

 He reappeared behind the logia by switching with Luffy and used Haki to get at his organs even as he tried to turn into smoke. He took the blunt end of the man’s weapon to the skull as the Marine swung backwards to try and force him away and staggered back with a snarl.

 “Traffy!” Luffy yelled, jumping the Marine and slamming a blackened rubber first into the man’s face.

 Law took the opportunity as the logia was distracted to plunge his hand in, “Mes.”

 There. They had them both now. Two Marines at his mercy…this really was his day!

 “Is your shoulder okay?” Luffy asked. “And your head? You’re not rubber; that had to hurt…”

 “What?” Law asked, glancing at his boyfriend. “Yeah, yeah, sure. I’m fine, Luffy-ya.”

 “Well you’d still better fix your shoulder,” Luffy said.

 “In a minute,” Law said. He’d need his hands free and first he hand something else to take care of.

 Smirking at the Marines, drinking in their pain, he squeezed their hearts.

 Both collapsed with cries of pain with the Vice Admiral rather impressively trying to push himself upright, presumably to fight back.  

 “What the—Traffy, stop!” Luffy said, grabbing his arm.

 “ _Why_?” Law demanded. These two Marines were in their way, and soon they wouldn’t be. What was Luffy’s problem?

 “What are you doing?” Luffy demanded.

 “Dealing with them,” Law said. What did Luffy _think_ he was doing?

 “Something’s wrong, this isn’t like you!” Luffy said.

 Wasn’t like him? Law did this all the time, he _loved_ hurting other people like the world had made him hurt. “Are you out of your mind, of course it is!”

 “Not it’s not! You’re never like this without a reason!” Luffy said.

 “I have a reason. They’re Marines and _I want them to hurt_ ,” Law hissed.

 “AND THAT’S NOT LIKE YOU!” Luffy yelled.

 Ugh, how had he ended up with this all-loving idiot…

 Wait. How… _had_ he ended up with Luffy?

 Law frowned, his grip on the hearts loosening. He heard the Marines gasp in relief but it didn’t matter because…something didn’t make sense. He…he shouldn’t have been capable of a relationship at all. The only person who’d cared about him after Flevance was Bepo, the Donquixote Family had only wanted to use him, the Marines the same…even Kuzan had just been sort of a neutral presence…right? Why would Law have even entered a relationship, no matter how pushy Luffy was, he shouldn’t have been able to reciprocate…but he did.

 He knew he did.

 He shouldn’t have been able to feel for Luffy what he did, not with how he was, with who he was…

 “Traffy, give me their hearts,” Luffy said firmly, holding out his hands.

 Law surrendered the organs almost without thinking.

 Something was wrong here…he didn’t know what but something was wrong.

 “That Caesar jerk is kidnapping kids for his experiments,” Luffy told the Marines. “You’re Marines, you need to rescue them. They’re with our crew, get them out of here safe.”

 “And what will you be doing?” the Vice Admiral asked.

 “Taking over,” Luffy said. “Punk Hazard’s ours now. We’ll be nice and let you get the kids out, though, they deserve it after this.”

 He said more, getting into a shouting match with the Vice Admiral that the other Marine tried to mediate, but Law couldn’t hear it. This just made no sense.

 What was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate chapter name: Doffy You Bastard.
> 
> Yep, those of you who follow my tumblr knew it was building to this. The ultimate complication for the Dressrosa arc is NOT that it's a year early and there's no tourney for the Flame Flame Fruit. It's that Doffy turned Rocinante into a toy to utterly mess up the heroes' plans...and Law's mental state. As indicated with his thoughts about Luffy, he's not fully back to where he was pre-Rocinante's influence, mostly because of his other relationships--Bepo, Luffy, so on--still having some of an effect on him, but he's a LOT less stable right now.


	3. The Plot Thickens

 Rocinante growled. True to his word, Doffy had looked at him and instantly pulled out a notepad that he was still reading. His brother’s expression kept switching between “utterly baffled” and “utterly furious” as he read on.

 “I’m going to get old sitting on this chair,” he complained, folding arms that were too small for the shackles. He’s been turned into some kind of marionette.

 “Toys don’t age,” Sugar chirped.

 “Holy shit, I _hate_ you,” Doffy said, his rage colored with a sort of childish wonder. “Look at all this shit you fucked up for me!”

 “You’re welcome,” Rocinante said dryly.

 Doffy flicked him in the head. It didn’t hurt, but it did…something…that left his mind feeling fuzzy like it would have if he’d been hit in the head as a human.

 “Oh well, you’re paying for it now. No one even remembers you,” Doffy mused. “And soon the Op-Op power and Law will be in my grasp.”

 “Like hell,” Rocinante said.

 “He doesn’t remember you. Or anything that only you have told him,” Doffy said. “Which is probably a lot of warnings about me and my…connections.”

 Oh no. Law wouldn’t remember Doffy was an ex World Noble, and might not remember he was blackmailing them. He might walk right into a trap…

 Rocinante would have bared his teeth if he had them…or the ability to physically open his mouth, which was merely painted on, “I hate myself for _ever_ letting you live.”

 “Letting me live?” Doffy laughed. “According to this your Devil Fruit barely even had combat applications and you never made it above Captain in the Marines!”

 “You always underestimated me. When I get out of this…”

 “You’re soft, so that threat is empty,” Doffy scoffed. “And you’ll never get out of this.”

 “Then Law will kill you. You know how he was as a kid.”

 Weak from illness and disadvantaged by his small size his rage had still given him the power to take Rocinante from behind. A little more practice to teach him precisely where to aim and it would have been fatal. Law was an unstable ball of hate at that age…it tore at Rocinante’s heart that he might have been brought back to that, but it also meant Doffy would get his ass kicked by his own plan.

 “Don’t be so sure…Law was loyal,” Doffy said. “Until someone got in the way…”

 Rocinante rolled his painted eyes. “Someone’s not thinking. Yeah, Law has forgotten _me_. There’s other people in his life, Doffy.”

 Doffy grinned, “Like the Marine in this note who also doesn’t know you anymore?”

 Shit. Kuzan. Was he all right? Did he even know what was going on? Doffy thought he wouldn’t and had a point, this whole plan had been Rocinante’s idea…

 He’d screwed this up majorly…he hoped Law’s faith in the Straw Hats and Hearts and their ability to pull off miracles was right…

.o.o.o.

 Chopper was nervous. Something was wrong with Law.

 They’d ventured deeper into the complex, looking for Caesar. The Marines were to rescue the kids and then Smoker got his heart back, Tashigi’s returned as a show of good faith.

 Law hadn’t wanted to do it, and had glared daggers at Tashigi the whole way.

 That wasn’t like him. Law would have mocked her, maybe, or hidden his feelings entirely if he was upset. This was…weird. Law was bristling at the slightest thing, like he was utterly on edge…

 “Are you feeling all right?” he asked Law as they stopped for a breather. “You seem…really tense.”

 “I’m fine,” Law said tightly.

 Chopper and Robin shared a look. That was the least convincing “I’m fine” since…well, any time Ace was pretending to not be hurt, really.

 “You just seem like you’re on edge,” Chopper said. “Everything okay?”

 Law rolled his eyes, “Everything’s _fine_ , Tony-ya, now leave me alone.”

 Well okay then. Time for plan B.

 “So, anyway, do you think the others are going to have trouble with Smiley?” he asked.

 “Probably not, given their relative abilities,” Law said. “Especially Smiley’s combustibility. Assuming they don’t get caught in the resulting explosion or breathe in any fumes they should be fine.”

 “I guess…I’m just worried, you know?” he asked.

 Law shrugged, “Nothing we can do about it. We’re here to catch Caesar. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he can call it off if it’s too big a threat to them.”

 Chopped nodded. Okay, Law wasn’t being _entirely_ a jerk, just when he got mad. “Yep. Hopefully Caesar will be easy for you, Luffy, and Jinbe to handle, and then we can give Smoker back his heart and get going!”

Law instantly scowled when Chopper mentioned Smoker. “I _suppose_.”

 Chopper shrugged, “Well, we have to. We promised.”

 “Luffy-ya promised. I don’t make promises to _Marines_ ,” Law hissed, practically spitting out the last word.

 “…Sure you’re not tense?” Chopper asked. The glare Law gave him erased all rational thought from his mind, and he ran to hide in Jinbe’s thick winter coat.

.o.o.o.

 Law felt a little bad for scaring Chopper like that, but really, what did the reindeer _think_ he thought about this whole situation? And why all the questions? Law wasn’t any more tense than usual. Law shook his head. Why he was friends with Chopper he really couldn’t say…

 There it was again. Why _was_ he friends with Chopper? Well, he was kind of cute and fluffy and reminded Law of Bepo because of it…and Law guessed they did have the medical profession in common…

 But he was like Luffy. He was ridiculously kindhearted and soft. He and Law should never have gotten along. All his memories of Chopper felt fuzzy and odd. They didn’t fit, somehow. He didn’t understand them being what they were—they were too…light. It didn’t feel right, having light memories.

 Law tried to push it aside for now. They had a scientist to kidnap. Then he could have his revenge on Doflamingo for using him, for planning on having him cure himself with the Op-p only to die later for Doflamingo to live forever.

 It made him sick just thinking about it. And it was more productive to cultivate that anger than his confusion over Chopper-

 “Shishishi, this place goes on forever! It’s going to be so cool when it’s ours!” Luffy declared.

 And he was right back to being confused because his relationship with Luffy made no sense either. He was in love with a cheery rubber lunatic who wanted to take over an island because it was superficially “cool”.

  _Why_ was he in love with a cheery rubber lunatic who wanted to take over an island because it was superficially “cool”? Because he was definitely in love with Luffy, if the way seeing the guy grin made his stomach flip meant anything, but _it did not make sense_.

 “Wait,” Jinbe said, holding up a hand. “My Haki is picking up something.”

 Chopper sniffed, “You’re right. Something smells funny.”

 “Caesar’s a gas logia. Can you pinpoint what it is?” Robin asked.

 “A lot of gasses don’t really have smells,” Chopper protested. “If he turned into one of those…we’d never find him…but…that smells like…chlorine! Run!”

 “What’s chlorine do?” Luffy asked.

 “Poisons the shit out of you now run!” Law snapped.

 “Great another poison guy! I had enough of that in Impel Down! Can’t we just beat him up?” Luffy asked as they sealed themselves in a room.

 “Little hard to hit _gas_ ,” Law said.

 “Not with Haki,” Luffy pointed out. “Heck, you can use Haki, you can cut him. Or Robin can break his spine…if he has one when she does it. Or Jinbe can-”

 “Unless Caesar has superior Haki,” Usopp said.  

 “Guys-” Franky said.

 “Does he though? If he was strong, would he really be hiding from us?” Luffy asked. “I’ll bet he’s weak and hides behind Smiley.”

 “Excuse us-” Bentham said.

 “But we don’t know that, and given how dangerous his powers are we should be cautious,” Jinbe said.

 “HEY!” Franky yelled. When everyone looked he did his Super Pose, before swiveling to point. “Bentham and I found something!”

 “Chains?” Robin asked. “I wonder if this was his dungeon…”

 “Seastone chains, I can tell!” Bentham said, shuddering for effect as he poked one.

 “Hey Nose-ya…think you can snipe something made of gas?” Law asked, smirking.

 “Well it depends how spread out he is…I mean, gas can fill a room, if that’s what he’s doing, how could I miss?” Usopp asked.

 “…I still get to punch him,” Luffy decided. “But then, yeah. We do that.”

.o.o.o.

 “All right,” Nami said. “The plan is simple. Sanji hits it with a flaming kick to make it blow up, Brook races in to grab Sanji away before the explosion hits him, and then Ace superheats the explosion to neutralize the poison gas by heating it so high it breaks down into its basic components instead of poisonous compounds!”

 “…Are we _sure_ that’s good science?” Zoro asked. “I mean, Brook doesn’t need to breathe, but the cook will be pretty close. To say nothing of the rest of us.”

 “With how hot ace can make things we should be fine,” Nami said, idly waving her hand. “I can throw in some lighting to facilitate the chemical reactions. It _will_ make a bigger boom, though.”

 “Eh, we’ve got enough people with Armament Haki to take the brunt of it for those who don’t,” Sabo said.

 “I’m guessing I get to play human shield?” Jean Bart asked.

 “Well…you are huge,” Penguin said.

 “…Yeah okay let’s do this,” Jean Bart said, shrugging.

.o.o.o.

 “…LAME!” Luffy declared as Franky chained Caesar up with seastone. “He’s a _logia_! This should have been _cool_! I took him in one hit! Usopp didn’t even have to snipe him!”

 “He was rather weak,” Law agreed, nudging Caesar with his boot. “What was it Rayleigh said when he warned Ace-ya? Logias who thinks themselves invincible don’t amount to much in the New World?”

 “Yeah and Ace got mad cause he already knew that,” Luffy said. “…Think this guy’s one of the dumb logias?”

 “I think he knows he’s weak,” Robin said. “Given how he hid from us.”

 “But then why wasn’t he guarded?” Jinbe asked. “If I was Doflamingo—and I am so very happy I am _not_ —I would keep a scientist I need to keep Kaido from going after me guarded night and day. Instead we only found Caesar’s workers…”

 “Hmm…this is interesting,” Robin said, leaning over the console. “These security videos show people we never ran into.”

 “That’s Buffalo. And that looks like Baby 5 as an adult,” Law said, walking over to the monitor. “And that’s Monet, the snow logia from the file!”

 “We never ran into her…weird,” Luffy said. “Maybe _she_ could have put up a good fight!”

 He gave Caesar a dirty look, clearly scolding him for his lack of interestingness. The unconscious scientist did not react.

 “It looks like…she’s…leaving with them?” Law wondered.

 “Why?” Bepo asked. “Do…they _want_ us to capture Caesar?”

 “That makes no sense,” Law dismissed.

 “Don’t be so sure,” Robin said. “You suddenly started acting very oddly while here, Law. Is there something you’re not telling us?”

 “Oh, good, it’s not just me,” Chopper sighed.

 Bepo looked confused, “What are you talking about? Captain acts like this all the time.”

 “…I thought he was acting a little weird, not a lot,” Luffy offered.

 “What, has _everyone_ got nothing better to do than wonder if I’m acting normally?” Law snapped. “We’re dealing with something serious, you all know!”

 “No, just…you’ve been a bit weird,” Luffy said. “Since we fought Smokey. Are you okay?”

 “I’m fine,” Law said, glaring at Luffy. “We just need to take the clown and get out of here.”

 “And if that’s what Doflamingo wants? You’re usually more suspicious than this,” Robin said.

 “The asshole fucked up and left his scientist unguarded, what more is there to it?” Law snarled. “We’re going to take advantage of it and then use it against Doflamingo!”

 “We know why we’re here, stop yelling,” Luffy said, folding his arms.

 Law rubbed his forehead, “I…why do you all suddenly think I’m acting strangely? I’m not!”

 “Hey, look!” Usopp called. “I got the cameras in the Burning Lands working! Check this out!”

 “That thing is so cool,” Luffy whispered in awe as a giant goo salamander worked its way across the lava landscape. “Why didn’t we get to fight it? It’s _cool_. Caesar’s lame.”

 “What’s Sanji doing?” Chopper squawked in fear. “He set it on fire—oh my gosh it’s exploding!”

 “… _Super_ ,” Franky said as Brook rushed in and grabbed Sanji while Ace surrounded the explosion with flames.

  “…That was AWESOME!” Luffy cheered. “GO ACE!”

 “Well, I’m glad you’re not jealous,” Bentham laughed.

 “Wrong! I’m _totally_ jealous and Ace is going to get it for stealing the fun!” Luffy said. “Doesn’t mean it’s not cool.”

.o.o.o.

 “What are they even doing?” Smoker muttered as the lightshow from the Burning Lands continued.

 “…Being the Straw Hats,” Tashigi decided as the rest of the crew continued getting the children settled.

 “Vice Admiral, a message form the pirates!” a communications officer called. “Their sniper I going to…shoot your heart at you.”

 “What?” Smoker asked before grabbing his chest. “What the _fuck-_ ”

 Tashigi caught his heart, and pulled a note off it, “Shove into hole in chest. I take no responsibility if you screw up and kill him. T. Law.”

 “…When we catch them…I am wiping that smirk off the surgeon’s face,” Smoker grumbled.

.o.o.o.

 “We should have kept the heart,” Law complained as they boarded the Sunny. “It’s a bargaining chip for a Vice Admiral.”

 “We promised,” Luffy said. “Easy as that.”

 “You promised,” Law said tightly.

 “Why do you have such a problem with this?” Sabo said. “We don’t need the heart, it’s superfluous. We’d probably lose track of it in a week or so anyway.”

 “He’s been acting weird,” Chopper said. “Ever since the fight with Smoker.”

 “I have not!” Law argued, temper spiking. They were _still_ doing this? Didn’t they have anything else to do? Like gloat over taking over an island? Deal with the hostage?

 “And for some reason some of us, like Luffy and Bepo don’t think he’s acting weird!” Chopper added, ducking behind Ace as Law glared at him.

 “I think he’s acting a little weird, just not totally weird or anything,” Luffy said. Law rounded on him. Luffy continued to look unimpressed.

 “He’s acting a lot weird,” Bentham said. Law was pleased to say his going to form a Room in response to that drew out a nice squeak of panic.

 “ _Super_ weird,” Franky said.

 “I’ve always acted like this!” Law snapped, the Room forming. Fuck it, if they needed a reminder to leave him the _fuck_ alone-

 “No, and I can prove it.”

 Everyone turned to look at Ace, who had folded his arms and was glaring at Law, “Because if you were _always_ this big of an asshole when dating my brother, I’d have killed your skinny ass a _long_ time ago and fed you to some Sea Kings.”

 Law frowned, brow furrowing, “That…is actually an excellent point.”

 Ace was extremely protective of Luffy, especially emotionally. The behavior Law’s mind told him he commonly displayed, the behavior that _made sense_ , didn’t make sense in the context of having been his behavior while dating Luffy around Ace if he was still unscathed for it. But then how could that be?

 He dropped the Room.

 Ace nodded, “Chopper’s got the right of it, guys. Something made Law start acting weird, and for some reason only some of us remember it’s weird.”

 “…The files,” Robin said. “Doflamingo withdrew Monet, he’s planning something. Maybe there’s something in the files Kuzan gave us.”

 Law’s brow furrowed further because now that he thought about it, because even barring his animosity towards Kuzan _that didn’t make sense either_. “Wait…why would Kuzan even know that stuff? He was never with the gang…”

 “Maybe we can find out if we look through the files,” Koala said. “Just…you, better stay calm, surgeon.”

 Everyone was tense while Robin went to the library. Franky and Shachi made preparations to push off, before the Marines swung back and arrested them. Law leaned against the mast, trying to sort out his thoughts and ignoring Ace and Jinbe rather obviously watching him for wrong moves.

 “Well, I know what’s going on,” Robin said when she returned. “One of Doflamingo’s officers can turn people into toys. And anyone who knew them forgets they ever existed.”

 “So, why would _that_ make Traffy act weird?” Luffy asked.

 “Law, I don’t know as much about your history as Luffy or Bepo do…or did,” Robin said. “But…imagine someone who came into your life at some point, someone so hugely important that it changed who you were.”

 Law’s eyes widened, “Then losing the memories…would presumably affect my whole personality.”

 “And we maybe all reacted differently because maybe only some of us know this person or their effect on you!” Koala said, snapping her fingers. “Bepo must have known them pretty well since he thinks this is normal for you, but Luffy and the rest of your crew must have known less because they only sort of think it’s normal.”

 Law’s fists clenched. He…he was only like this because someone had messed with his memories? He’d forgotten someone who made him be a different person entirely?

 He looked at Luffy, suddenly pained by all the times he’d wondered how he’d ever gotten together with the kindhearted young man. It was because he’d been someone else…presumably someone better.

 “I….I need some time,” Law said, heading for his room on the Sunny.

.o.o.o.

 Luffy held his prize close as his other hand rapped against the doorframe.  He found it a little weird to knock for his own room, but…better safe than sorry. Law was probably going through hell right now.

 “Who is it?”

 “It’s me,” Luffy said.

 “Come in.”

 Law looked like a mess, leaning against the wall in just his jeans. He stared blankly at Luffy, “I don’t know who R is.”

 “What?” Luffy asked.

 “On my right shoulder, R!” Law said pointing at the tattoo. “I…I think the K is Kuzan but that _doesn’t make any sense_ , he was just the Navy’s babysitter for me…could the memory change have somehow made him less important, did he used to be important? But who is _R_?”

 Luffy glanced down at the picture he was holding, “Maybe this guy?”

 Law took the photo with a quizzical expression, before his eyes went wide, “Where did you get this?”

 “Your desk drawer on the sub,” Luffy said, sitting next to Law. “I…maybe went through your stuff. For answers.”

 He’d asked Bepo to pick it up, because he’d kind of left a big mess since he’d been in a hurry. Especially once he’d found this to bring to Law.

 Law started shaking, “I don’t remember this. Don’t remember this picture ever being taken.”

 It was of Law, probably around fourteen or so, sitting on a very tall blonde man’s lap. In a chair next to the blonde was Kuzan, seemingly from his pre-Admiral days. The blonde was flashing a peace sign with one hand and hugging Law with the other while Kuzan gave a lazy salute.

 “There’s stuff written on the back, too,” Luffy said, turning it over so Law could read it. _End of Kuzan’s first month at North Base 3_. _Glad we’re all getting along now. D.R_.

 “I think maybe _this_ is R,” Luffy said, pointing at the blonde. “I…what if he took you in, Law? And that’s how you got out of the gang?”

 Law frowned, “Honestly makes more sense than my memory of stealing the Op-Op fruit from Doflamingo out of desperation and somehow finding the Marines before he found me, all while barely thirteen and dying. How would I have managed?”

 Luffy shrugged, “I don’t know. But…but I promise you, we’re going to beat Mingo into the _dirt_ for making you forget someone so important.”

 “So important he made me a different person,” Law murmured, setting the picture aside reverently. “I...Luffy, I’m so sorry.”

 Luffy frowned, “Why are _you_ sorry? It’s _Mingo_ who’s going to be sorry!”

 Tears pooled in Law’s eyes, “Because I used to be someone different! I’d been asking myself all afternoon how you’d ever even gotten with someone like me because it made no sense but now I know! You didn’t get together with _me_ you got with…with some better me. Someone who’s probably a lot better for you…”

 Luffy reached out and cupped Law’s face as he started to sob, “Traffy, it’s going to be okay. Promise.”

 “I feel like my head’s tearing itself apart,” Law said. “It…it doesn’t make _sense_.”

 “I’m going to help you, Traffy,” Luffy promised, pulling his boyfriend close as Law broke down. “We’re going to get your memories back and you’ll be all right.”

 Law trembled in his hands and Luffy was _so angry_ at whoever made him hurt like this. This was unforgivable.

 Doflamingo was going to wish he’d never been born.

.o.o.o.

 “This is terrifying,” Koala said quietly. “That anyone could just be…forgotten.”

 “It’s a creepy power,” Sabo agreed, looking over the file they had on the “Sugar”.

 “I’d put it up there with Law’s or Blackbeard’s,” Jinbe said. “One of those Devil Fruits that has advantages even before you get creative, and terrifying possibilities for its powers.”

 “I’d say it’s worse than even the Op-Op or the Dark-Dark,” Ace said. “Those could at least have good uses. The Dark-Dark’s a weird logia, and sure it’s…” he paused with a shudder, “…it’s _not_ any fun to fight, but someone who’s not an evil ass like Teach would probably be able to use it just for combat like anyone else. And the Op-Op can be used to heal people, or escape fights or…other stuff than the creepy stuff. But the Hobby-Hobby? What _use_ could that have?”

 “I could see the Marines wanting it, maybe,” Sabo mused. “Make people forget famous pirates who embarrassed them.”

 “You’d have to have a really warped Marine in charge,” Jinbe said. “I don’t know if even a follower of Absolute Justice would be for it, since it involves _forgetting_ crimes…”

 “Still, if we knock her out, we fix this…we just have to figure out how to do it…” Sabo said.

.o.o.o.

 Law nursed his coffee, smirking as Sanji kicked Caesar in the face when the prisoner was rude about the food Sanji gave him. At least some things weren’t utterly miserable.

 Everyone had been on edge around him for the last few days. Well…not Luffy. Luffy was incapable of being on edge when dealing with people. He’d been his usual loud, tactile, cheery self and Law had constantly fought the urge to snap at him for it because for all he knew, for all any of them knew, that wasn’t what he’d really do.

 He wondered what the real him would do. Would he have found Luffy’s actions funny? Just less annoying?

 He wasn’t sure. It was a painful, terrifying not-knowing.

 He’d do what he could, though.

 “Guess we’ve let Mingo sweat enough, huh?” Luffy asked as they went into the transponder room.

 “What if he’s not sweating? He has to know he’s messed with us by now,” Sabo said.

 “Yeah. But we can’t hold the hostage for too long without making demands,” Law said, dialing.

 “But no need to let him know _we_ know he’s messed with us,” Koala said.

 Law nodded. They wouldn’t let him know.

 “Yes?”

 Just the voice sparked his temper—he wanted to make this asshole hurt like never before, make him bleed out every ounce of blood in him-

 No, _no_. He reined himself in. They had a plan. He’d go with the plan.

 “This is Trafalgar Law, Doflamingo. I’m finally going to get my revenge for you using me. We have your scientist. Either surrender your title as a Warlord or we’ll keep him, and you can deal with Kaido not getting what he was promised. Your choice. We’ll wait three days. If you giving up your Warlord seat isn’t in the paper by then, we’ll kill Caesar.”

 He hung up, ignoring the urge to hurt something in favor of just storming off. A hand pulled him back—Luffy.

 Luffy smiled, “Bepo and I wanted to know if you wanted to take a nap.”

 Law ignored the fact that he’d just had coffee and nodded. Anything to take his mind off things.

.o.o.o.

 Doflamingo shrugged, “And there you have it. Either I give up my position as a Warlord, endangering my entire kingdom and robbing the World Government of a powerful asset, or I subject my poor, innocent subjects to Kaido’s wrath. Law’s a vengeful brat, never thinking of who else might get hurt. But you know him better than any Marine whose help I could ask for. So while I’m sorry for the blackmail…will you help me?”

 Kuzan folded his arms, “What do you have in mind?”

 “Either kill Law or, preferably, return him to _me_ ,” Doflamingo said, grinning. “I can handle that brat once I get some seastone on him and put him in time out. Do it, and the Marine we turned into a toy as a hostage will be returned to normal.”

 Doflamingo grinned as the ex-Admiral seemed to weigh the deal. Security footage of Kuzan and “Rocinante” wandering Dressrosa coupled with an old copy of his “brother’s” Marine file had been enough to convince Kuzan that “Rocinante” the Marine was a friend of his, whatever their true relationship was. He wondered if they’d been dating, perhaps? Ugh, the idea of some hypothetical biological younger brother of his dating a _Marine_ …ex-Marine. Whatever.

 “All right,” Kuzan said. “I’ll help you protect your country and get you Law in exchange for the Marine. Too many people could get hurt if I don’t.”

 Doflamingo’s smile widened, “Excellent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, did not know last time's twist would get that big a reation. Glad to see so many people are invested. XD
> 
> • The chat about Sugar’s Devil Fruit is something I’ve always wondered—how is the Dark-Dark the most evil when there are literally no good applications for Sugar’s power? Someone not-evil could probably use the Dark-Dark in a non-evil way, but hers? Yeesh.  
> • As some of you guessed, the file came to the rescue. I remembered the scene in Dressrosa where after some of the gladiators were turned into toys the Marines were confused by their names on wanted lists. So it doesn’t affect records or the like. Hence Doffy using notes, the Marine file, and security footage. Caesar was captured more easily here since when he sent the distress call, Doffy figured out the gist of the plan and is merely playing along. He had Buffalo pick up Monet (who is not a Harpy here due to Law not hybridizing Punk Hazard) to keep things running smoothly.  
> • Kuzan getting tricked is also hugely important since the Straw Heart Alliance is a little more stacked in this universe. We don’t have the tourney so I’m keeping all of them to fight against Doffy, but he doesn’t know how it’s going to go down, all he knows is a crew with Law, Luffy, Ace, Jinbe, Nico Robin, and more is coming to his house. Just asking the Navy for one Admiral (yes, we’re still getting Fujitora) ain’t gonna cut it if that’s what’s showing up at your door.  
> • Law’s mental state is very messy right now, but the basic sum up is that he’s not as able to regulate his pain as Roci helped him to be, so his temper is closer to how it was back when he was a kid, as are his bitterness and impulse control. This is really going to affect his ability to help plan for Dressrosa. We’ll see more of this next time. As you can see it’s also affected his and Kuzan’s relationship, as a lot of what they had is based in Kuzan being Roci’s significant other and Law being Roc’s son.

**Author's Note:**

> That's right folks! We've entered the realm of...CHAPTERS! Seriously, the middle bit of this was going so slow, you have no idea. So three chapters to make it so you can get some now.


End file.
